Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Anthony Van Loo is a 20 year-old right back who plays for SV Roeselare in Belgium's top league. Actually, I think "played" might be the better term, because after Sunday, I don't think he'll play again. Before you get ahead of yourself, it's not because of discipline, and it's not because of a horrific injury. Nope, I don't think he will ever be allowed on the pitch again professionally because he had a heart attack and was saved by the defibrillator implanted in his body.

If you want to see the video, it is after the handy jump.We'll get to that video in a bit. First, an explanation. Van Loo had the defibrillator implanted last summer after being diagnosed with a heart condition. Then, in a move that would never happen in litigation-happy USA, he was allowed back onto the team and onto the pitch.

On Sunday, Roeselare were playing FCV Dender in the Jupiler League's relegation playoffs. The playoffs are actually played in league form, with the 15th and 16th placed Jupiler League teams playing two teams from the second division in a double round robin. Sunday's game was very important to the teams as Dender needed to win to stay in contention and Roeselare could clinch staying up with a win or draw. Roeselare won the game 4-2 to retain their Jupiler League position, but what happened just before halftime is much more interesting.

In the 44th minute, Van Loo went down untouched and stayed down, motionless. As the team physio rushed to his side, Van Loo's defibrillator did its job. As you can see below at about the 14 second mark, the device sends a heavy shock to his heart, restarting it. Van Loo then sits up, and is shortly thereafter whisked off to the hospital for tests.

Tests on the defibrillator show that Van Loo's heart stopped after a brief time beating at over 300 bpm. But Belgian doctors are apparently much less bothered by things like heart attacks, because shortly after the match--or about one hour after the heart attack--Van Loo is said to be back with the team celebrating staying up.

They would be more bothered were it an actual heart attack, but I'm guessing he suffered a cardiac arrest due to his heart beating itself out of rhythym. I only say because I have one of these fancy-dancy defibrillators in my chest after collapsing on the pitch during a game myself. Never been shocked by it, although they say it's like getting kicked in the chest by a horse. Hopefully I never find out.